第64章 · 原文
现代白话译文
事物安稳时容易持守，问题没显露时容易谋划。事物脆弱时容易消解，事物微小时容易散除。要在事情没有发生时就处理，要在祸乱没有产生时就治理。合抱的大树，是从幼芽开始生长的；九层的高台，是由一筐筐泥土堆积起来的；千里的远行，是从脚下一步步走出来的。妄为必然失败，强行把持必然失去。所以圣人无为所以不会失败，不强求所以不会失去。人们做事情，总是在快要成功时失败。如果在结束时仍像开始时那样谨慎，就不会有失败的事情。所以圣人追求人所不追求的，不稀罕难得的财物；学习别人所不学习的，补救众人所犯的过错。以此辅助万物自然发展而不敢妄为。
英文译本 / English Translations
D.C. Lau
It is easy to maintain a situation while it is still secure; It is easy to deal with a situation before symptoms develop; It is easy to break a thing when it is yet brittle; It is easy to dissolve a thing when it is yet minute. Deal with a thing while it is still nothing; Keep a thing in order before disorder sets in. A tree that can fill the span of a man's arms Grows from a downy tip; A terrace nine storeys high Rises from hodfuls of earth; A journey of a thousand miles Starts from beneath your feet. Whoever does anything to it will ruin it; Whoever lays hold of it will lose it. Therefore the sage, because he does nothing, never ruins anything; And, because he does not lay hold of anything, loses nothing. In their enterprises the people Always ruin them when on the verge of success. Be as careful at the end as at the beginning And there will be no ruined enterprises. Therefore the sage desires not to desire And does not value goods which are hard to come by; Learns to be without learning And makes good the mistakes of the multitude In order to help the myriad creatures to be natural and to refrain from daring to act.
Robert Henricks
1. What is at rest is easy to hold; 2. What has not yet given a sign is easy to plan for; 3. The brittle is easily shattered; 4. The minute is easily scattered; 5. Act on it before it comes into being; 6. Order it before it turns into chaos. 7. A tree [so big] that it takes both arms to surround starts out as the tiniest shoot; 8. A nine-story terrace rises up from a basket of dirt. 9. A high place one hundred, one thousand feet high begins from under your feet. 10. Those who act on it ruin it; 11. Those who hold on to it lose it. 12. Therefore the Sage does not act, 13. And as a result, he doesn't ruin [things]; 14. He does not hold on to [things], 15. And as a result, he doesn't lose [things]; 16. In people's handling of affairs, they always ruin things when they're right at the point of completion. 17. Therefore we say, "If you're as careful at the end as you were at the beginning, you'll have no failures." 18. Therefore the Sage desires not to desire and doesn't value goods that are hard to obtain; 19. He learns not to learn and returns to what the masses pass by; 20. He could help all things to be natural, yet he dare not do it.
Addiss & Lombardo
What is still is easily held. What has not yet shown omens is easily planned. What is fragile is easily broken. What is minute is easily scattered. Act before things exist. Govern before disorder. A tree you can barely reach around grows from a tiny sprout. A nine-story tower rises from a pile of earth. A journey of a thousand miles begins under one's feet. Acting destroys, grasping loses. Therefore the sage does not act, and thus does not destroy. Does not grasp, and thus does not lose. People in their undertakings always ruin things when near success. Be as careful at the end as at the beginning, and you will not ruin things. Therefore the sage desires no desire, values no rare goods, learns what others do not learn, returns the errors of the multitude, and thus assists all things naturally without daring to act.
Arthur Waley
"What stays still is easy to hold; Before there has been an omen it is easy to lay plans. What is tender is easily torn, What is minute is easy to scatter." Deal with things in their state of not-yet-being, Put them in order before they have got into confusion. For "the tree big as a man's embrace began as a tiny sprout, The tower nine storeys high began with a heap of earth, The journey of a thousand leagues began with what was under the feet". He who acts, harms; he who grabs, lets slip. Therefore the Sage does not act, and so does not harm; Does not grab, and so does not let slip. Whereas the people of the world, at their tasks, Constantly spoil things when within an ace of completing them. "Heed the end no less than the beginning," And your work will not be spoiled. Therefore the Sage wants only things that are unwanted, Sets no store by products difficult to get, And so teaches things untaught, Turning all men back to the things they have left behind, That the ten thousand creatures may be restored to their Self-so. This he does; but dare not act.
林语堂
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Stephen Mitchell
What is rooted is easy to nourish. What is recent is easy to correct. What is brittle is easy to break. What is small is easy to scatter. Prevent trouble before it arises. Put things in order before they exist. The giant pine tree grows from the tiniest sprout. The journey of a thousand miles starts from beneath your feet. Rushing into action, you fail. Trying to grasp things, you lose them. Forcing a project to completion, you ruin what was almost ripe. Therefore the Master takes action by letting things take their course. He remains as calm at the end as at the beginning. He has nothing, thus has nothing to lose. What he desires is non-desire; what he learns is to unlearn. He simply reminds people of who they have always been. He cares about nothing but the Tao. Thus he can care for all things.